Our Hero Academia: Chapter 44
Gas Leak Joho projected a hologram from her wrist, showing the interior of the building. "There's a large chamber in the basement, likely where they're hiding all the hostages. The upper level also has a room that my drones can't seem to get to, that's probably where the boss is." The group of interns were surrounded by unconscious police officers and Heroes alike. Gas still swirled around inside the building. "Other than the Heroes, how many people are in here?" asked Zenji. "Three that I could find. One of them's the gas user." "Alright," Zenji said, "considering how spread thin they are, we're not likely to run into much resistance. I'll head to the basement to rescue the hostages. Griselle, you take out the boss. From what I've heard, the boss is a pushover when it comes to actual combat so it shouldn't be too hard to take him out. Joho, you get all the Heroes and cops out of here and give them the gas vaccination. If anyone runs into the gas user, he's top priority. Got it?" "Got it!" Griselle took off running towards the bosses room, having memorized the way from Joho's holographic map. She had two vaccines in hand in case she needed them, she had a determination on her face to prevail. "I won't need anyone's saving this time. I'm not the same girl from a year ago. Nor am I the same girl who was broken down on the inside. I refuse to be that girl, ever again." "Alright, looks like I'll get going too," said Zenji. "Be careful, and stay on guard." He took off as well. Joho was now all by herself. "Alrighty then. Mr. Jumper seems like a good person to get started on." She injected him with a dose from the vaccine and started pulling him out of the building. A police officer, formerly lying on the ground knocked out began to wake up in complete disarray. Looking around the room, he noticed a young Joho injecting something into Mr. Jumper's body, catching her just after and beginning her pull. "Who. Who are you? Where am I? What time is it?" he asked with a weak voice, struggling to get words out from his throat. This complete surprise would take Joho off guard, as all the people besides her in the room seemed pretty out of it when the interns were planning here. "Sir," said Joho, attesting to comfort him, "it's alright, remember what we were here for before. Remember what your mission is." The officer shook is head quickly more so in a way to clear his mind, "I don't understand. Mission? What?" he asked hesitantly. "The Professor? Jumper Hero Agency? Any of this ringing any bells?" Joho asked, starting to get more worried by the second. He looked confused once again, but reached around to the back of his head and rubbed his neck with a calm smile. "Heh. I guess whoever knocked me out, knocked me out pretty good me for me to forget what I'm doing. I'll see if my memory clears up or anything." He chuckled, bringing some sort of relief to the dark atmospheric room. A scent quickly filled up the room, seemingly surrounding everyone in there without being noticed. Whilst it wasn't obvious, its scent was, and was extremely attractive to the nose. It smelled like a mixture of roses and perfume, addicting smells that many people have come to enjoy. The smell was like someone had lit up a scented candle, but with an odour that was very far reaching. It was obvious the scent didn't start just now, having built up a few moments ago to be mixed in with the air of the room, there was no escaping what was going to happen now. "Roses? And," The officer paused before breathing in heavily, "Perfume? What're they doing here?" Joho's eyes widened with realization, taking out another one of her vaccines and jabbing it into the police officer's leg. "Grab someone who's unconscious, as many as you can, and get out of here now!" "I think it's too late for that little one. Play nicely now with some of your new friends." A voice chuckled from behind a wall, as if they were speaking behind a mask. "I fear that I have duties elsewhere in the building, we'll see if your hero morals will stop you from bringing your hand against the workers of justice". The voice fell quiet and footsteps began making their way away from Joho's position. The officer suddenly drew his gun from his side and aimed it at Joho, his eyes wide open with fear as if he was looking at the devil himself. They had been breathing in gasps of the gas the whole time, and only now with the notorious odour that it has finally began to take effect, too drastic for even the grown policeman. His hands were shaky but held with the weapon with intent and aim, right at Joho who was only standing a bit back after injecting the officer. He drew a sweat, as a drops began forming under his hairline, slowly sliding down the sides of his face, and his cheeks becoming red from fear. "S-stay back, you." He said wimpy, his gun still in the air. His fingers were way too close to the trigger for comfort, and the shakiness of his hands were only a timer to when they would actually fire off the bullets within. Several groans of awakening sounded around the room, and with the gas still present, the men who had been unconscious had taken in a deep breathe. They too would fall to the trap laid out by Seishuu, as they also took ready for battle. Their emotions were the same as the officer, sweaty, nervous and ready to attack, with their sole target being Joho. One of the officers threw his finger to point at the U.A. student, pulling the walkie talkie on the side of his chest to his mouth and yelled. "We need backup! We got a high status villain in our midst! Units, apprehend with permission to eliminate." he ordered. The whilst some officers held their guns to aim at Joho, a few other officers withdrew their batons and charged for the young student. There was without a hint of mercy in their eyes, with all they could express was the drastic fear they were all washed over. Seishuu was effectively using other people for his dirty work, especially when those people were people of the law. "Sorry about this," Joho mumbled. A dart suddenly went into the first police officer’s neck, knocking him out instantly. Various other police officers found themselves tripped up over one another, being electrocuted or hit with darts themselves, primarily targeting those with guns drawn. She turned towards the oncoming police officers, her visor picking out the perfect order to take them out in, firing a few blasts from her Shock Cannon, the remaining police officers were knocked out. Out of the three interns, no one else could’ve handled this more efficiently. "Come on out Tanaka!" she called, her weapon pointed ahead of her. Her visor went into infrared. Remembering that he enjoyed being high up, she began scoping out the ceiling. "cOmE On oUt tAnAkA!" A voice mimicked mockingly, except with three voices coming from all corners in the room. He was of course out of range, but the use of cameras and microphones were obvious under the guise of the effects of his quirk. "Back off little one, my business is with the grown ups." "Is that why you thought it would be necessary to send a bunch of them to try to kill little old me?" asked Joho, "I didn't know you were into killing children. What? Do you get off on it?" She had already determined through her infrared vision that Tanaka wasn't in the area. She sent out her drones to scope out the area, staying at high enough levels that they were out of sight in case any other police officers woke up and so that they wouldn't see them and attempt to destroy them. If she lost her connection with one, she instantly knew where to go, while at the same time, quadrupling her searching ability. Athough he could not be seen, a smirk could be felt from behind the microphones, tapping on what seemed to be a wooden desk. "In fact, it was them who wanted to kill you. I merely stoked their fears to take action, I'm still the innocent one here. You attacked law enforcement without hesitation, one camera mind you. So you tell me whose more in the wrong." He continued. "Tell me," said Joho, still sounding coy. "Who's Quirk is it that affected their mental state? It's like I killed them or anything. They were going to kill me, all because of you. Of course, I'm certain you're still going to try to justify that action, so I'll just bring up something I don't think you'd be able to justify no matter how hard you try: why would you kidnap all those innocent people to experiment on?" The room fell silent, with very little response from the speakers in the room. "Whose answer do you want? The person who wanted them or mine?" he finally asked. "I guess I'd like to hear both," said Joho. She saw a heat signature on the display on her visor. She had to keep him talking just a little bit longer. "Would you? Then allow me to introduce you to a friend." He said before talking in the background. Struggling could be heard coming closer to the mic, and a new heat signature popped on Joho's display. They were obviously brought against their will, as their cries for help were muffled by some sort of fabric. "You may know my name, but at most that's all your going to truly know." He warned before the sound of a trigger being readied nearby spoke into the mic. "I'd like you to meet... missy here, she will be my protection." He spoke calmly, he still needed to maintain control. Although Joho couldn't see him, it was obvious that Seishuu had a gun put to the side of this Missy's head. Soft whimpering of defeat could be heard, in fact all that could be heard from the speakers. It filled the room, with Joho risking the safety of this innocent. Seishuu knew what he was doing, as if he had done it before countless of times. He knows what to do in a situation, and using other people seemed to be his speciality. "This isn't the first time I've dealt with heroes little 'un. I'm enjoying our chats, and I don't really plan on being taken into custody just quite yet. As for your question, the client simply wanted hostages, I saw this as an opportunity to maybe help the community, with people disappearing some may becoming more cautious when travelling alone." He answered, the gentle crying of his hostage right next to him. "My fingers on the trigger right now, and I've held myself long enough to have a final word in before going out before." Joho by this point had managed to find herself only a few meters away from Tanaka's hiding place. She stopped dead in her tracks. It wouldn't be as simple as knocking him unconscious now. "Villains always try to make their actions seem noble, and now you're putting an innocent at risk. You truly are the greatest of scum." "You must be blinded by the 'morals' or heroes. The same can be said for you heroes, saying that your presence is to 'protect' society from us villains. You had put this one at risk simply by being present as an opposition to my operations. You brought this gun to the side of Missy's head here, I aim to only make sure that things go smoothly." Seishuu explained further, sharing if not entirely placing the blame on Joho and the other interns. "By law, you had committed more crimes than I have right here today. So you tell me who the scum here is." "Still you dumbass," Joho said. She was not fast. She knew she wouldn't be able to attack him before he could pull the trigger, but she had a plan. Not so much a plan, more of a gamble. There were two people in this building that were fast enough to stop him from pulling the trigger. With their conversation essentially being broadcasted throughout the building, she could only stall long enough for him to wake up. "Even if it's our fault that you deemed it necessary to take a hostage, you're still the one that decided it was a good idea to put a gun to her head! You're so crazy that you can't even see that no matter how you slice it, your actions are still horrendous!" "Maybe so, but who could say, if you were me would you not do the same?" She said before moving the gun down to the hostage's leg and firing at her calf. The gunshot rang throughout the room, the suddenness of such a sound would certainly daze the hostage as well as alarm Joho. Moving the firearm back to the hostage's head, Seishuu could only grin behind his mask and sigh. "Looks like I've given you a timer little one. Soon Missy here is going to bleed out, and I'm giving you till then to leave the premise with your friends. I'll keep my word and nurse her one the deed is done, but I fear that the blood will be on your hands if you don't comply." The hostage's cry of pain was still muffled but her screams spoke volumes from behind her binds. The whimpering became more violent and shook as her sobbing became louder, sure to fill Joho with regret and caution. "What will it be little one? Or do I need to blow the other leg too?" Joho's eyes widened. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, but she fought them back. She couldn't blur her vision in a time like this. "Where are you?" A flash of light suddenly entered the room. Tanaka was face to face with Jumper. Before he could fire the his gun, Jumper already moved his hand, to force Tanaka's gun into the sky. He grabbed onto the woman, and in another flash, the two were gone, leaving him alone, but not for long. Joho immediately rounded the corner, pointing her rifle towards Tanaka, and firing a blast of electricity towards his chest. Seishuu reached around to allow his leather jacket to take in the electricity, with the material being an insulator. As the gun fell back down, Seishuu gracefully caught the pistol and fired back at Joho with precision, aiming for the student's legs. With quick work whilst firing, Seishuu reached into the jacket and threw a handful of the bombs, releasing the vapour that he had used before. He was moving, making sure not to stay in one place as to stay as an easy target. Whether they liked it or not, he wasn't going to back down so easily, freedom is all he wanted. Joho made no attempt to even dodge. A blue field appeared around Joho the bullet simply crushed on impact with her armor. "Thank you Digi," she mumbled to herself. The infrared in her visor was once again activated, with her drones flying into the room to act as support. It didn't take long for her to catch sight of Tanaka. Realizing that her rifle wouldn't be of much assistance, she holstered it onto her back. Aiming her open palm at his position, she firing a concussive blast. This wasn't any type of energy, just pure kinetic force. She was standing by the only exit, and there was no way she was letting him escape. Seishuu was pushed backwards, with his feet still intact with the floor, only being dragged back a couple of metres. "Must thank 'im for these adjustments. I'll be sure to head back for an upgrade to these abilities once I'm done..." Seishuu said as he pointed his gun at Joho. Anyone who tried to interfere would definitely be affected by the gas, so Seishuu was only keeping this fight to a minimum of one opponent. Gripping the revolver with two hands, despite being as strange as it is, displayed the power of his weapon. Aiming it at Joho, Seishuu fired off the weapon right into her direction. It was triggered with the power of a shotgun, as what exited out of the barrel was many pieces of shrapnel that flew right at Joho covering a large area at the same time. The power was enough to knock back a person but the bullets that came with it was a bonus piercing effect. The bullets that didn't make it to Joho shredded through and embedded themselves into the concrete behind her. She held out her arm in front of her, the shield that passively shrouded her body being pooled into a rectangle on her arm. The shrapnel struck the shield, then suddenly rebounded back towards Tanaka. Some force was lost, but it was still enough to pierce into his body.